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Sexual Orientation Policy Tally

The term “sexual orientation” is loosely defined as a person’s pattern of romantic or sexual attraction to people of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or more than one sex or gender. Laws that explicitly mention sexual orientation primarily protect or harm lesbian, gay, and bisexual people. That said, transgender people who are lesbian, gay or bisexual can be affected by laws that explicitly mention sexual orientation.

Gender Identity Policy Tally

“Gender identity” is a person’s deeply-felt inner sense of being male, female, or something else or in-between. “Gender expression” refers to a person’s characteristics and behaviors such as appearance, dress, mannerisms and speech patterns that can be described as masculine, feminine, or something else. Gender identity and expression are independent of sexual orientation, and transgender people may identify as heterosexual, lesbian, gay or bisexual. Laws that explicitly mention “gender identity” or “gender identity and expression” primarily protect or harm transgender people. These laws also can apply to people who are not transgender, but whose sense of gender or manner of dress does not adhere to gender stereotypes.

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*Note: Tennessee state law explicitly enumerates sexual orientation, but not gender identity. However, the law does enumerate "gender," and the state attorney general affirms that this means transgender people are also protected. *Note: Charlotte, NC recently approved a local hate crimes ordinance .

Hate crime laws are designed to deter bias-motivated crimes, but there is no consensus around the efficacy of these laws in preventing hate crimes against LGBT people. Additionally, some advocates argue that hate crime laws may be counterproductive to that goal. Research further suggests that the enforcement of hate crime laws disproportionately impacts marginalized communities, particularly communities of color. Read more about how criminalization impacts people of color here.

The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act is a federal law that amended federal hate crime law to include gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability. Several states have hate crime laws that require data collection for sexual orientation or gender identity and expression, but do not impose additional penalties: Indiana (sexual orientation), Michigan (sexual orientation) and Rhode Island (gender identity or expression). For additional information, contact the Human Rights Campaign, the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, the National Center for Transgender Equality, or the Equality Federation.

Percent of Adult LGBT Population Covered by Laws

*Note: These percentages reflect estimates of the LGBT adult population living in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Estimates of the LGBT adult population in the five inhabited U.S. territories are not available, and so cannot be reflected here.

47%

47 % of LGBT population lives in states that have hate crime laws covering sexual orientation and gender identity

26%

26 % of LGBT population lives in states that have hate crime laws covering sexual orientation

0%

0 % of LGBT population lives in states which explicitly interpret existing hate crimes law to include sexual orientation and/or gender identity

23%

23 % of LGBT population lives in states with laws that do not cover sexual orientation or gender identity

4%

4 % of LGBT population lives in states with no hate crime laws

Key

State has law that only covers sexual orientationLaw covers sexual orientation

State has law that covers sexual orientation and gender identityLaw covers sexual orientation and gender identity/expression